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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27875542">I Had No Home but You</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalimdor/pseuds/Kalimdor'>Kalimdor</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>World of Warcraft</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>And honestly if Blizz adds an interaction with her and Sylvanas in shadowlands I will scream, Catharsis, Family Feels, Look I just love Lireesa, Mother-Daughter Relationship</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-04</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 14:34:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,365</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27875542</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kalimdor/pseuds/Kalimdor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Learning of her betrayal, the Jailor throws Sylvanas into the abyss, only for her to be saved in more ways than one. </p><p>Aka Sylvanas gets a hug from her mother. </p><p>A short snippet of story that was sitting in my google docs that I felt inclined to post.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>48</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>I Had No Home but You</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Apologies for the vagueness of the scenario, I simply wanted to write a touching snippet of Sylvanas and Lireesa. I am no grand storyteller, merely a purveyor of feels. Enjoy!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em> To think you thought to betray ME, mortal? How pitiful. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>Thrown like a ragdoll from <em> his </em> gargantuan strength, cast aside with mocking laughter still ringing in her ears, Sylvanas wonders how she still retains her form and hasn’t yet been shred to wisps of anima from the height in which she’s fallen. Getting up with a painful wheeze, her left pauldron cracked and hanging from her shoulder, broken bow still clenched in hand, she cannot understand how she’s even survived until the sight that greets her causes her to stop short. </p><p> </p><p>Then the laughter starts at the back of her throat, stifled behind a locked jaw as her throat seizes in protest, useless gulping breaths hissing through tightly clenched teeth. It grows in desperation and volume, pitched and hysterical until her head is thrown back and a truly horrible cackle bursts from her lips. Lips pulled back from fangs in a cruel sneer, unholy red eyes burning with tears she can never shed. </p><p> </p><p>She laughs and laughs and throws the splintered remains of her bow aside, and laughs some more. </p><p> </p><p>A field of yellow flowers; tulips, golden and preening in the strange mockery of a sunset. How fitting, how <em> cruel.  </em></p><p> </p><p>The start of forever, the end of it all. </p><p> </p><p>“Alas the afterlife is wiped clean, reset.” Her voice is brittle with spite. “But <em> no </em> , you chose for me to remain here. You kept me as I am: the perfect, imperfect example; the mocking exhibition at how wrong it all went.” Sylvanas laughs some more, horrible and choking, the final wounded noises of something slain uncleanly. “So this is it, cursed to remain alone as I am, steeped in failure. You took everyone’s soul except mine just so you would have someone in which you could <em> gloat.”  </em></p><p> </p><p>The endless field of flowers stretches on, taunting, silent. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> Blessed Belore, please free me from this pain. And yet still I beg, for what reason? Belore is gone.  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Will I be witness to the birth of your twisted new universe? Or will you keep me here forever, defeated and downed in a field of flowers, an experiment for your cold and calculated mind.” Another desperate, humorless cackle- edging into insanity. “Does it not vex you that no matter how much order you force upon your new and improved creation, how to the letter they carry out your <em> divine </em> plans, you will always have me? The thorn in your side, the reminder of your past mistakes.” Sylvanas spits at the ground in disgust. “Perhaps the only reason you keep me around is because you wish to have someone more of a failure than <em> you.” </em></p><p> </p><p>“A failure? I would have to vehemently disagree with that statement dear one.” </p><p> </p><p>Sylvanas freezes, chest tight with dread. She knows that voice, oh she knows it so dearly. </p><p> </p><p>
  <em> No, oh no no no. </em>
</p><p> </p><p>“Please don’t do this.” She whimpers, her previous defiance all but defeated in a single shattered whisper of a plea that will fall on deaf ears. She’s a lost, sad, defeated thing now. Broken beyond all salvation and yet, <em> and yet, </em>there are still weapons to hurt her. This isn’t clinical or fueled by actions beyond mortal comprehension as they so described, this is targeted, sadistic, gleeful in her torment. </p><p> </p><p>She hears the familiar, rhythmic gait of worn, military boots, the breaking of stalks and plant matter underfoot. The creak of leather and metallic buckles as she senses the warmth of the body standing to her right. </p><p> </p><p>“Darling?” </p><p> </p><p>“Stop it.” Sylvanas hisses, frozen, fixated on the horizon- trembling and afraid and refusing to turn her head. She cannot look, she <em> will not! </em>They’ve taken everything from her, but not this, never this. But she betrays herself by breathing in. The smell hits her like a tidal wave, of sun warmed leather and pine, the hint of a rich floral cologne- an unidentifiable scent like no other, one that soothed a crying child, terrified of the summer thunderstorms at night. </p><p> </p><p>The scent of her mother. </p><p> </p><p>She wants to wail, to tear up the ground and the sky in a seething, roiling mass of hatred. She wants to shatter the illusion and then herself. </p><p> </p><p>But she can’t and she… </p><p> </p><p>A warm hand rests on her shoulder and Sylvanas violently flinches away, ears pinned to the point of pain as she clasps her hands over them, pulling roughly at her hair as if the sharp sensation will cut through the memories of her voice. </p><p> </p><p>“You’re not real, you’re not real.” She chants like a mantra, again attempting to shrug off the hands that fimly, yet gently clasp around her wrists and pull her hands away from their vice-like grip. </p><p> </p><p>“I’m as real as you are,” that deep, rich voice, smooth as honey yet as authoritative as a general. “I would have thought my dear daughter would be able to tell the difference by now.” </p><p> </p><p>And suddenly Sylvanas finds that she doesn’t <em> care </em> whether this is real or not. Her soul is flayed, her mind broken, and right now she’s desolate. She’s scared and inconsolable and so very cold; and these arms, these arms that are warm and strong and smell like a summer evening breeze are everything she needs. S o she collapses into them and falls apart. She half expects to pass through the image, to end up curled in the dirt, clutching nothing but the thin air that makes up <em> his </em>illusions but she feels the muscles in those arms flex as she finds herself slowly lowered, the body of her mother still holding her against her chest as they sink to the ground together.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh my darling girl, I am so sorry.” Her mother's voice is wrought in grief, pressing Sylvanas’s pallid cheek against the warm skin of her collarbone as gentle yet calloused fingers run through her scalp in an achingly familiar sensation. A horrible wheezing noise rips from Sylvanas’s throat in response. “You didn’t deserve this, <em>nobody</em> deserved this. Hush now, breathe.” </p><p> </p><p>And Sylvanas does. Her ribcage expands in a juddering, empty breath and Lireesa places her hand over it, as though guiding each unsteady, unnatural inhale. </p><p> </p><p>“That’s it, breathe now, breathe deeply and rest. You’ve done so well, you’ve been so terribly brave.” </p><p> </p><p>She’s not brave, she’s <em> terrified </em>, but the praise from her mother washes over her just like it did back when she skinned her knees or limped into the kitchen after falling off her horse, a bedraggled elf no more than eight summers old, hiccuping through poorly held back tears as she tried so very hard to be strong.  </p><p> </p><p>“I’m so tired, I’m so fucking tired.” Another sob rips from her chest, raw and broken and Lireesa hushes her again, fingers still carding through her hair in a gentle, rhythmic motion. </p><p> </p><p>“I know my darling, I <em> know. </em>You can rest now, for a moment, just breathe and listen to my voice.”</p><p> </p><p>Sylvanas stills, falling limp across Lireesa’s lap even as her ears prick, alert and desperate to hear her mother’s words. </p><p> </p><p>“You have been so very difficult to find.” A warm puff of air against her temple as Lireesa exhales in a short laugh. “I heard often of you, from the curses of souls slain in your name, from the howls for vengeance as they bayed for your blood.” </p><p> </p><p>Sylvanas flinches.</p><p> </p><p>“But I could not find you, not until now, until you let your guard down enough for me to seek you out. Perhaps now you’ve finally surpassed me as a ranger.” Lireesa chuckles but Sylvanas does not laugh with her, ears drooped in misery as she further curls in on herself. Lireesa tightens her hold, again shushing her before pressing a gentle kiss to the crown of her head. </p><p> </p><p>“I’m no ranger, Minn’da.” Sylvanas eventually whispers, eyes staring unseeingly ahead, still unable to meet her gaze. “I was meant to protect, meant to fight for what was right. And I’ve done… such terrible things.” The confession leaves her in a breathless whisper, like the final wheeze of pain from a downed buck when the knife is plunged into its heart. </p><p> </p><p>“You did what was needed.” Lireesa's voice is final, her tone conveying everything in that one sentence. Sylvanas knows her mother must hardly bear to hear of all the blood spilled, of the pain and suffering that’s been birthed under her command, must weep for the monster her daughter has become. Still, she holds her close, whispering soft affirmations, still stroking her hair and brushing errant strands of it from her face. Burning fingers trail against the tear marks under her eyes and Sylvanas screws her eyes shut and turns her face away. </p><p> </p><p>“Don’t...look at me.” Sylvanas never wanted to meet her mother like this, like the broken, corrupted remains as she is now. She’d wanted her mother to see her only as a memory, one of a bright and youthful ranger, embracing her at the gates one last time, bidding her farewell to a journey, she didn’t know then, that she would never return from.</p><p> </p><p>“And why not? You are as beautiful as the day I left you.” Lireesa’s voice wavers as her thumb brushes against a torn ridge in Sylvanas’s ear. “And stronger than I could have ever imagined.” She then composes herself, taking a deep breath and dropping her hand from Sylvanas’s side to errantly wipe at her own tears. “You know I would die a thousand deaths, spend an eternity clapped in the chains of the maw if I could take all this from you.” She whispers and Sylvanas’s only response is to weakly reach for her hand which her mother takes with firm conviction. “If only I hadn’t underestimated the Orc-Troll alliance back then, if only I had retreated at the first sign we were in over our heads. I could have pulled my forces back, I could have lived to come home to you another day. I could have <em> protected </em> you.” Lireesa’s words are bitter with guilt but Sylvanas is quick to shake her head, not wanting to hear the sweet <em> what if’s </em>that had once been the only thing that soothed her back in Undercity. She’s had enough of empty dreams. </p><p> </p><p>Only then does she dare to risk a peek, and another sob catches in her throat. Her memory never did her mother justice. Lireesa’s steel grey eyes are misted with grief and compassion, the wethered lines on her face are mostly gone, smoothed into a youthfulness Sylvanas has never before seen, but the scars surprisingly remain, the deep one that bridges her nose, the jagged scratch that splits her eyebrow to the left. And that smile, the same damn crooked smile that Sylvanas remembered she used to do, oh so very long ago. </p><p> </p><p>“Minn’da.” Sylvanas whimpers and Lireesa can’t help but gather her back up in her arms all over again, uttering apologies and loving murmurs all in one jumble of fluid Thalassian that’s such a relief on Sylvanas’s tired ears. </p><p> </p><p>For a while the two of them hold one another, still and silent amongst the gently swaying flowers and the soft breeze, carrying the scent of the forest they both so loved once upon a time. </p><p> </p><p>“Is it over?” Sylvanas asks, her voice small and childlike, so desperately ready to be the one lead for once, to finally have guidance in her dark and lonely path. “Have I lost?” </p><p> </p><p>“No, no sweetheart you haven’t lost yet.” Lireesa’s fingers trail across the jagged ridge of Sylvanas’s ear again, wondering what cruelty a person could harbour to tear out the feathered earring she’d gifted, or perhaps her daughter had done it herself, haunted by what she thought was weak sentimentality. Either scenario sends pain lancing through her chest like a poisoned Amani spear. Her voice then grows stronger, sensing the illusion she’s created starting to fade, of the darkening of the clouds across the image of the blue Quel’Thalas skies. “But you need to get up, he knows you’ve betrayed him now, yet you still have time to act. Gather those that still lay their faith in you, stay strong as you always have and we will meet again, standing arm in arm in the face of a new beginning. Of that I will promise you.” </p><p> </p><p>Sylvanas senses the shift in mood too, the sudden urgency as the safety her mother has provided starts to crumble away. Lireesa’s familiar form also morphs, her skin takes on a bluish tinge and she can suddenly hear the heavy whooshing sound of a steady wingbeat in the distance. The warm skin she’d been resting her cheek against becomes cold and armored and yet despite realizing that the sweet illusion is now shattered, Sylvanas still basks in the undeniable presence of her mother. </p><p> </p><p>The Kyrian sets her down on a ledge, overlooking the empty abyss <em> he </em>had nearly hurled her into, Sylvanas stumbles and finds herself steadied by strong hands before the divine being frowns and works at her broken pauldron, tightening the buckles the best she can before sighing deeply. “Perhaps fix your armor first, a ranger with poor fitting leathers is a-”</p><p> </p><p>“-Ranger dead, I know mother.” Sylvanas offers her the best attempt at a smile she can manage. </p><p> </p><p>“Unfortunately when I regained my memories it also brought back the insufferable nagging.” Lireesa flexes her wings and cracks her neck almost as though she were merely warming up for training drills back in Farstriders Square, “so you will just have to deal with that.” She then glances up, a thoughtful look of determination on her face as she spies the outline of the eternal city high up above before she looks back at Sylvanas’s slightly lost expression with a wry smile. “Can’t say I’m thrilled about the new look, but the wings <em> are </em> a benefit, do you require me swooping in to save you again, or can you make it from here?” </p><p><br/>
Sylvanas shoulders what remains of her bow, jaw set and eyes flaring with renewed determination, the lingering joy of being held by her mother still singing within her blackened veins. “No, you’ve done all you’ve needed to, I can make it from here now, I <em> know </em> I can.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Could be talking out of my ass here but I do think Lireesa definitely ended up Kyrian- her life was that of service to Quel'thalas and it seems to most fitting in my opinion. And since in canon the denizens of Bastion are stripped clean of their memories of their past life, who knows if Lireesa's hanging around and we wouldn't know it! </p><p>Just wild speculation that I doubt will come true haha ^^ thanks for reading.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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